Completing the "Notification to Home Educate" form

The Notification to Home Educate form appears intimidating at first glance, but it is not that difficult to complete if you phrase your answers in a general way until you work out what type of home education philosophy, methods, and materials best fit the needs of you and your child. See our advice on finding resources for your homeschooling experience in Q6). For more information on the different types of registration (e.g. Traditional, Blended, Fully Provided), click here.

This form is something that you write yourself, or with the help of your facilitator. And this form is only binding for the remainder of the school year. If you decide to continue with homeschooling next year, you will fill out a new one, or replace it with the Education Plan form that is provided by your facilitator.

While you have the right to educate your child in the way that you see fit ("background" section of the Home Education Policy), you can tie your hands and create roadblocks for yourself if you are not careful with this document. It is important to remember that this form is like a legal contract... where, as a parent and educator, you make a commitment about your own behaviour. It is a form designed to reflect what the parent will do. It does not ask what or how your child will learn as this is difficult to predict, hard to prove and next to impossible to timetable.

For example, if you say your child will learn to read by the end of grade one, you are opening up a can of assessment worms. Instead, you should say that your child will be encouraged to learn to read... that he or she will be read to, surrounded by books, taken to the library, attend an author reading, etc. You are committing to things that you will do or try in the education of your child for the remainder of the year. You are not committing to things that your child will do or learn or master. Be careful how you say things. Using words like "offer", "present", "introduce" and "encourage" will go a long way to creating a contract with flexibility. An Ed. Plan can list the resources you may use, the places you may go, and the extra curricular activities that you may do. Using words like "may" will ultimately give you the most flexibility as you find your way through the rest of the year.

Something else to consider... sample Education Plans can be borrowed from the SHiNE Library, if you'd like to see how other homeschoolers have crafted forms, worded their documents or built creative educational plans in the past.

Part A is straightforward fill-in the blanks information.

Part B is usually the portion of this form that causes people worry, stress or confusion.

B1. This section asks for you to list any subjects that will be covered in the home education of your child and the grade level at which they will be taught. They are primarily concerned with math, language arts, social studies and science (Home Education Regulation - Schedule: Student Learning Outcomes (1)). Perhaps your child will also study music, phys. ed., a second language, art, drama or dance. You do not need to include them all, but you may want to. For grade level you can give the grade that matches the age level of your child or you can choose the approximate grade level at which your child is presently working.

B2. Many home educators know what they want when it comes to the education of their children. But if you would like the help of your facilitator in writing & designing your home education plan, you can check "yes" in this box. Don't forget that you can also get help from other homeschoolers, you can view old Ed. Plans in the SHiNE Library, you can ask for advice on the SHiNE forum, or you can e-mail us for advice at info@shine-hs.invisionzone.com. Make sure you know what you want. Some school boards, despite not having access to your funding, may want to provide you with a teacher-directed, highly structured program where they direct the learning of your child in every subject. For some, this may be a welcome transition from the school setting to the home learning environment. For others this could be a major headache. You have the right to be either traditional or teacher directed. The choice is up to you.

B3. You can respond with general terms like : life-learning, books, videos, audio tapes, and various manipulative materials, or you can list actual curriculum or textbook materials that you plan to use and follow. Once again, check out the SHiNE Library for resource catalogues or samples of texts or purchased curriculum resources, and talk to other homeschoolers to find out what works for them. In the beginning, it is often best to talk in general terms here so that you give yourself the flexibility in your first year to try out a few things before committing, on this legal document, to using something that isn't a proper fit for you and your child. In other words, give yourself some breathing room here. Remember to use phrases like "may use".

B4. (Home Education Regulation, "Student Progress Evaluation" section 4) Here you can simply state "ongoing parental observation", and portfolio review, or you may want to include the Provincial Achievement Tests or the Canadian Test of Basic Skills tests if you want to access these test. (Note: It is not required that students write these tests -- it is the parents' choice)

B5. This section only applies if you have special requests of the supervising board --- this can be access to a school library or school sports teams. Some school boards offer specialized on-site programs that you may wish your child to attend (Project Class, the Caraway Program, Language Learning Programs and Christian-based programs come to mind).

B6. Here, if you want funding, say so (this is the first option). Of course, it doesn't matter after Sept. 30th as you can't access your funding, so you just enter N/A for this part. If, on principle, you want to reject all funding, this is your place to say so.